METHODS OF RAT DESTRUCTION'. 



Barium Carbonate. 



235 



Other preparations "wliichwe tested contained Plnster of Paris, 

 Magnesium Sulphate, Croton, and )Squi]l. With the exception 

 ■of the last-named we found that, all these, however attractively 

 disguised, were only taken if no other food was available, and 

 their use as a raticide could therefore be disregarded. Squill, 

 which is obtained from the bulb of a plant {Scilla laaritima) 

 ■occurring in great abundance on the Mediterranean coasts, can 

 be used either in the form of a powder or of a solution, and in 

 France and its Colonies it has for some years been known to be 

 •an effective rat-poison. In this country it has been little used, 

 as until quite recently the only proprietary preparations con- 

 taining the extract of the plant have been in the hands of 

 companies which likewise sold virus, and its use was only recom- 

 mended in the event of the virus proving a failure. Although 

 •extremely toxic as far as rodents are concerned — the minimum 

 lethal dose for a rat being only half a grain — Squill is compara- 

 i:,ively harmless to domestic animals. 



As will be .seen below, a very large number of tests were made 



